WE CALL EM' HOW WE SEE 'EM

I’m not really sure what this means but I do not like it. It seems the SEC, Big Ten and PAC-12 and have followed the NCAA and folded under the pressure of litigation costs. They have decided that they will no longer license their trademarks out to EA sports for use in the NCAA Football video game. They citing the mounting mounds of cash dedicated to litigation as the reason why.

This is very disturbing for me because as a child the NCAA Football game was the reason I became so immersed in college football. I learned “Rocky Top” because of NCAA Football. I remember playing the game and my father hearing me hum the tune and asked me did I know the words. The rest was history.

The video game may arguably be one of the NCAA’s biggest marketing tools. This decision may signal an end to the franchise. I don’t see how you can make the game without three of the nation’s power conferences logos. I think the schools can still choose to license their individual schools trademarks out. That fact provides an ounce of hope that the franchise can survive.

Former players are suing the NCAA for many things; using models that resembled them in the game without compensation just so happens to be one of those things. Apparently the litigation costs outweigh the marketing benefits the game provides. The NCAA is standing by its declaration that it has solid legal footing in using the players in the video game but we know a smoke screen when we see it. I’m assuming any future earnings from the video game would be considered in a settlement package if the case doesn’t go the NCAA’s way. Might just be temporary and simply damage control. What do you guys think about this mess?